Modeling Vortex-Induced Motions of Offshore Floating Oil & Gas Platforms

The company I work for (Det Norske Veritas) has been performing CFD simulations of vortex-induced motions (VIM) of deep draft spar platforms. These platforms are moored to the seafloor and can experience motions due to vortices shed from the hull under high current conditions (vortex-induced motions). We have been successful in modeling this phenomenon using a commercial CFD program. The results compare well with high quality scaled physical model tests.

We are considering using OpenFOAM for this class of problem. We would like to know if the OpenFOAM solvers accessible in Caedium can handle the job. We would also need to consider ocean waves in conjunction to the VIM.

Details of this fluid/structure problem and the CFD simulations we performed are contained in a paper we just completed for this year's Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, which I am glad to share if you will provide an email address.

Many thanks for considering this inquiry.

Bob Gordon
Det Norske Veritas (U.S.A.), Inc.
Katy, TX 77441
281-396-1000

FSI not supported

The OpenFOAM solvers within Caedium do not support Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI). I do not currently have a schedule as to when Caedium will support FSI.

Caedium does support free-surface simulations (e.g., water + air), but there is no prescribed wave motion boundary condition.

You could use Caedium as a pre-processor to configure your geometry and mesh, then export to OpenFOAM and manually configure the case for an FSI solver.